Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22
John 4:4-42
Psalm 105:1-15
Proverbs 14:25
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not our husband. What you have just said is quite true."
I struggled all day to figure out what to write about in today's reading, and try as I might, I kept coming back to this verse. So I did a little digging to see what others might have said about it, and was shocked - although I probably shouldn't have been - to see how many interpretations there are. Many of them seem to ignore the suggestion the woman was living in sin, choosing to focus on how the Samaritans have "married" false gods. Others go so far as to suggest Jesus is victim-shaming; the woman was a victim of circumstance. Even others take the reading through to the end, and argue Jesus was not condemning the woman's seemingly sinful marital state, but accepting her and her sinfulness - that one's seems to be a popular interpretation in the increasingly "don't judge me, I can do what I feel like" world we live in.
The thing is, reading all the way through to the end, Jesus's words seem to have had a profound impact on the Samaritan woman. After encountering Him, she goes and tells others about Him. What made the encounter memorable? IMHO, three things - first, He spoke with her. Jews didn't speak with Samaritans. Second, He pointed out her sin - He didn't ignore it. And third, He doesn't shun her. He engages with her.
As Christians, we are tempted to take the lazy, self righteous way out - "Sinner - unclean! Avoid!" On the other hand, the world demands that we accept, even condone what is wrong. Our Lord strikes a beautiful balance. And the result is a person so affected they drop what they have to speak about Him.
Jesus, thank You for Your example. Teach us to strike the same balance - rejecting the sin, but loving the sinner - so that, through us, others might come to know You the way the Samaritan woman did.
No comments:
Post a Comment